Thats not true. I play hockey (oh what a shocker) and I have been in those situations many times and I nor my team mates have ever had to go down on one knee to get a goal. All he is doing is trying to show off.
OK, again no offense is meant to you, but this was kind of my point with my post... You don't have an argument with any validity to your claim. I played hockey in my youth too and coached it this past winter season. That doesn't mean you're in the NHL and can claim Crosby is "just showing off"... Watch the goals sometime, I'm sure they're on Youtube or something. When he goes to his knee for a shot it's usually off the right circle and a sharper angle. He does it to get good wood to the puck and not comletely miss his scoring opportunity, and to get power/lift to the shot since goalies usually can cover the bottom post but not the top...
And again... his paycheck indicates he's doing the right thing I think. His stats should cover any other doubts though I'd wager.
If I had a guy like Crosby who made sure he made the play like that, or a guy who missed 25-50% of his scoring chances from the same position, I'd take Crosby... I think most people would.
But like I said... He's the one in the NHL, and the one actually accomplishing these things, so really is it fair to just claim he's showboating because "I played hockey and I know you don't have to do that"? That's all I'm saying... That's NOT a valid argument, that's just anger.
And as far as the C goes, I don't beleive a rookie deserves to hold it, no matter how good they are they are still new to the NHL, if he had gotten the A then thats fine. I know Gonchar is basically gonig down the gutter but I felt that Recchi, even though hes useless now, would have been more deserving atleast until a new player came along. Heck Roberts isnt all that bad of a leader, he has league and playoff experience and he has already held the A before while playing top line for several years. Roberts could have made a great captain until Crosby could become prepared for it.
First, Roberts wasn't with the team when Crosby was named Captain... So it's a moot point. Second, Gonchar's going down the tubes? He was one of the top scoring defenseman of the NHL in '07-'08 and his defensive game was tremendous compared to last year... Not saying he's a leader, just arguing he's "going down the tubes" right now. He's stepped it up 100% for whatever reason. He's still not a leader though... He's not talkative (by all accounts I've heard) on the bench, and doesn't seemingly speak English well enough to consider piping up. Just what I've heard about him though so it might not be true...
Third, Recchi at the time was even my more logical choice, but Recchi has not lead by example... Speaking from experience, you don't give the C to the guy based on age or experience, you give it based on leadership on and off the ice, and by all accounts Crosby deserves it then. He's proven to be a good two-way player, he's proven to have the ability to take control of a game himself from an offensive standpoint, and he's very aggressive in the offensive zone... He's also talkative to his teammates, and a leader on the bench.
Also it should be noted Crosby was NOT a Rookie when he got the C... You're wrong on that. He was in his 3rd year in the NHL when he finally wore it during a game. He was offered it after his second season, and he wore the A during his second season because LeClaire lost an A due to his ****** veteran play for that season... So really, this all boils down to his young age being a concern. So far though that's proven 100% unfounded. He had a season wearing the A to talk with the officials and really earned becoming the team Captain.
Roberts is there now... Do you strip the C from Crosby who has done a good job and give it to him? I don't even think he wants it actually since Roberts admittedly fires the team up in the locker rooms and with his style on the ice. No, they made the right choice, and one based in the work ethic and effort Crosby made. It's a slight to what he's accomplished at this point to say otherwise.
I wasn't so sure at the time even, but it's turned out to be a perfectly fine decision made by Therrien.
And I dont know small stuff like "the crosby pickup" move really piss me off because Crosby wasnt the guy who did it first, and yet everyone I know who talks about hockey always refers to that as HIS
That's not Crosby's fault... People do that all the time. When I was growing up playing, people cited things as Gretzky's move, or Bourque's move, instead of giving credit to Richard or Howe... That's human nature to cite recent reference. Crosby's making certain plays his own because he's the player doing them the most, just as Ovechkin's style is being cited as his own, or as Federov's was cited as his, etc., etc. It goes down the line of great players... It's not their fault, and they're almost certainly not the first to create them unless they're really outlandish stuff (Like Lemieux's between the legs and behind him shot/goal).
As far as the media goes, there seems to be plenty of split with opinion on who the "best" is... I hear 3 names mentioned constantly, especially after this season, so it's hardly a bias this point.
In the end i just have a profound Hate for the guy.
That's fine, and like I said it seems to be a love or hate thing... Little in between.
At the end of the day though that's what makes your arguments for why you think he's overrated or a bad player, kind of weak. It's something I've found people have against the Steelers too so I'm used to it. Folks either love them, or they hate them, and then their arguments are always unfounded and generally lame to listen to about why the Steelers suck...
I view this as much the same. You hate him so you think he's a weakling that doesn't get tough, you think he showboats when he scores so he's not respectable, you think he shouldn't have been a captain for whatever reason, but there's no real basis to it other than you hate the guy. And that's cool not to like someone because of perceptions I guess, but that doesn't make it right. I try to take the player at face value instead...
He's not going to be as great as everyone predicted? Newsflash... He already is. I just don't see how people can watch him and say he isn't.